2/14/14

How is the Old Testament organized?

In modern English translations of the Old Testament, the 39
books fall into five main divisions: Books of Moses, History, Poetry,
Major Prophets, and Minor Prophets. The number of books in each division
turns out to be rather easy to remember: 5-12-5-5-12:

Memorize the books in each division, because it will greatly aid you
when you are trying to look up a reference. (See resource available
below under “Want to go deeper?”)

Want to go a little deeper? The Jews count 24 books, not 39, for they
combine the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra/Nehemiah and the
Minor Prophets into one book each. The Jews call the Hebrew Scriptures
the “TaNaKh,” an acrostic of the initial letters of terms designating
its three parts: Torah (the Law of Moses), Nebiim (the Prophets), and Khethubim (the Writings). The first two of these correspond to what Jesus calls “The Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12) or “Moses and the Prophets” (Luke 16:29, 31; 24:27). On at least one occasion, in referring to “The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44), Jesus may have lumped all of the writings in the third category under “Psalms,” the Writings’ largest book.

In my short life as a Christian, I seen
some of my brothers and sisters in Christ suffer some pretty tuff
ordeals in their own lives. Some were self-inflicted, some were not.
Life becomes hard and sometimes we just feel like giving up and we get
discouraged. Even going to church some wonder why bother. And so that’s
why I want to share a special lesson with you today; one I’ve done
before and one I’ll probably do again, because we need to be reminded
why we are here.

I believe that’s why men like Peter and
Paul thought it important to lift the eyes of those first century
Christian Heavenward, to remind them of the eternal hope have. And
that’s why I why I want to talk about Heaven this morning, because
troublesome times are not something new…

Paul wrote to the Romans 8:18 ”I consider
that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that
will be revealed . “

To the Corinthians Paul wrote

”Do
not loose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far out weighs them all.” I Cor. 4:16-17

To the Ephesians he wrote:

”
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, in order that
you may know the hope to which He has called you, The riches of His
glorious inheritance in the saints.” Ephesians 1:18

Sometimes you and I need to open our eyes to the hope we have in Jesus.

Farther Along (click to listen to Dailey And Vinncent version on Youtube)

The eternal purpose and plan of God is for us to walk with Him in Heaven.

I like what angels had to say to the early disciples after Jesus ascended into heaven…

Read Acts 1:9-11

“After
he (Jesus), said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a
cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the
sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside
them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here
looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into
heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into
heaven.”

Did you ever wonder what it will be like on that day, when Jesus returns?

Paul had much to say on the topic as he wrote to the Thessalonians.

I Thess. 413f

‘Brothers
and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep
in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have
no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen
asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.For
on that day, the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven a loud command
(a shout, a victorious shout), and with the voice of the arch angel and
with the trumpet call of God. And those who are dead in Christ and
those who are dead shall be raised incorruptible.’

Anyone and everyone that has died before
you, by just a moment, or by a year, or by centuries, will hear the
sounding of that trumpet .

So when the trump is sounded, when the
voice of the Arch angel is sounded, the Earth will cast forth her dead.
And every one that is alive at that moment, busy marrying, “and busy
giving in marriage, busy cooking, and busy doing things that we must do
in this world, will be changed. In the twinkling of an eye –
instantaneously! (I Cor. 15:50-53)

And, I Thess. 4 says that all, will be caught up to meet the LORD in the clouds,

The Bible also teaches that on that day:

The Heavens and earth will pass away with a great noise – a noise like you’ve never heard before!

It will be like that on that day when the
stars and the planets, and every thing that is out there, will begin to
move away and disappear and be no more. ’For before the beginning
they did not exist, and at the end of time they will not exist any
more’.

2 Peter 3:10 Tells us that this Earth which is so precious to us will be burned up and it will be no more,

So the Earth has cast you forth. We are not on it, we are somewhere out in space – and we will allhave
new bodies. Babies have new bodies. Teenagers have a new bodies. Old
men and women have a new body … as well as the sick and cripple and
hurting.

In 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 Paul wrote

“50 I
declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the
imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in
a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the
trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”

Our new bodies will be an indestructible,
imperishable, glorious, spiritual bodies. And like a babe, you begin to
explore that new body; and you will be so happy with what God has given
you!

And then maybe you’ll smile when you think about some of the old church songs you sang like

And as you look you see all the people of
the Earth with you, you may say to yourself, “This must be all the
people that ever lived”.

And you remember the verse in Matt 25:31f,

“When the son of man shall come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, Before Him will be gathered all the nations of the Earth, and He shall separate them from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats”.

So there you will be in the greatest family reunion ever, for we are all related through Adam and Noah

And you see and hear those separating
everyone into lines and you look to see what line you are in and you see
that you are on His right hand, and are numbered among the sheep – the
righteous. And you look and you are amazed, even baffled at the length
of the line you are in. More people in it than you ever thought there
would be. And you recognize it as a tribute to the majesty and glory of
God, and a tribute to the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it’s
power to save.

You may say to yourself, “I did not think this many would go to heaven.” So many but then you remember Hebrews 2:10 where it says,

“He will call many sons into glory”.

As you behold the great line that you are in, maybe you will also recall what Jesus said,

“Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe in me also, for in my house there are many mansions”.

And you realize those mansion will not be empty. And maybe you smile and start humming

Suddenly you are at Judgment, and you look up and you see the eyes of your Lord. You finally see Him face to face.

And He looks down and you see before Him a great book which is open.
And as you look down and see his hand on the page you notice the nail
pierced hand, and it kind of takes you back a bit. Yes it was Jesus
Himself. He who was nailed to the cross.

And then He speaks your name. But He speaks
as if He knows you. He does not have an angel whisper your name in His
ear. He speaks as though He had known you more than a day, or even a
year. As He begins to Judge you He says, ‘I was hungry, and you gave
me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I
was naked and you clothed me.’

And He Judged you. ‘I wanted you to
believe in me and you did. I commanded you to turn from a sinful life
style and you did your best. I commanded you to be Baptized in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of
your sin and you obeyed.”

And He Judged you. ‘You used what talent
I gave you. You forsook not the assembly, but gathered and encourage
your brothers and sisters unto good works. You remembered Me as you ate
the bread and drank the fruit of the vine each week. He spoke of the
gifts you gave week after week, year after year. He spoke of how you did
your best to share the Gospel message to all those you came into
contact with.’ And He judged you.

And the more He spoke, the more you were
amazed at how well He really knew you. Just not your name, but He knew
you! It was as if He knew the very hairs on your head and had them
numbered. He knew all your successes and failures. And then He looks you
in the eyes and said, “Enter into the Glory of your Lord”.

Suddenly you are passing through one of
those 12 pearl gates, and you notice the gate is a single pearl. Finally
in the city of God, the city you so longed to see. It is far more than
you ever expected or dreamed it could be. You can see why Paul said that
no human words could express what you saw. And you are thrilled and
filled with ultimate joy!

First things first, you want to see God. As
you travel, the great street you move on is beautiful, of pure gold,
yet transparent like glass. And finally there in the center of the city
you see Father God, no temple hiding Him. He’s just there. Surrounding
Him is a number angels and people. They are innumerable, in white.

And you feel so comfortable among them, and
start to sing, and sing with great joy and peace and happiness. You
sing songs of praise and it sounds so beautiful like you’ve never heard
before.

You really don’t know how long you were
there in that worship service, it couldn’t be measured. It is a new
dimension of eternity. There’s not clocks, no sun going down because the
sun is gone and there is no need for lamps, because the glory of God
enlightens that city.

Then as you are looking at God, it is as if
He were looking right at you. And as you see Him face to face, you
notice something, there is pleasure on His face, as if He were glad to
see you, and your heart jumps with joy. And you realize there is no
longer an need to hope, and not longer a need for faith because you are
now living your hope, and your faith has become a reality. And now Love
is the one thing remains welling up in you.

“Behold,
I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not
be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice
forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a
delight and its people a joy. I WILL REJOICE in Jerusalem and delight in her people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.”

When you see His face and His joy, and the
joy of those in that gathering, in His presence, and you never want to
move. But there’s more things to see and do. And so as if you knew the
city, as if you were programmed with the mind and language that is
called ‘Heaven’, you know where your mansion is and seek it out.

As you enter it you are amazed and
astonished and the feeling of joy continues to encompass you for it is a
mansion in every sense of the word…prepared just for you.

You later go out and begin to mingle with
other people. You see David, and Moses, and Adam, and Job and Noah, and
people you’ve known in the church since you became a Christian.
Everywhere you go you feel welcomed and comfortable, and accepted, and
you continue to feel that joy.

Every question you ask is answered, everything you ever wondered is answered, and you begin to understand it all.

And suddenly you may try to remember some
of the things from your past, something from your old life and the Earth
and the trials you now face. But like the earth itself, those memories
will be so dim. You will try to reflect on them and you will not be able
to remember why you felt pain. You will try to remember, and then you
won’t bother trying anymore.

It will be like that on that day, the day
our Lord Jesus returns. As surely as Jesus came to die for us, He will
come again to gather His own and take them home.

We need to remember that this world is not our home. Jesus has one waiting for us in glory!

Whether you are on the right hand of Jesus
or the left when we meet Him in the air is totally up to you. Those on
His right will live with Him in glory.

Those on His left on the contrary, will be
cast forth from God’s presence, into the lake of fire, or Hell. Each day
we have to remember that this world is not our home.

Today’s encouragement is this: Yea life is
tough sometimes. You may hurt physically or emotionally, but you have
prize awaiting you. As Peter encouraged the first century Christian, I
encourage you, he said, ‘Make your calling and election sure’

Baptism: Ignorance and Ignorance

Must I have all the answers?

One
of my weaknesses in earlier years as a Christian and as a student of
scripture was that I felt I had to have all the answers to all the
dilemmas. Take the case of those who truly have never heard the gospel
of Christ but who live exemplary lives and walk well in the best light
they have. What about them? I’m not interested at this point in
developing my view on that question (that’ll keep for another time if it
suits God) but it does generate serious and complex questions. What am I
to say about them? That’s a good question and needs addressed but
there’s a more pressing question I think: what is that to me since I
have heard? The ignorance of those people makes not an ounce of
difference to my case because I have heard the voice of God in the
gospel of Christ and the ignorance of some lovely Christ-believers about
baptism is nothing to me for I have heard the voice of God in
scripture.

There is ignorance that is culpable

All
ignorance is not the same ignorance. Not only are there differing
degrees of ignorance there are differing kinds of ignorance. If the head
of a nation or a corporation were to order her subordinates to do
something they all know is dishonourable we would judge her
dishonourable. And if she claimed she knew nothing about the deed
because, in fact, she had given her subordinates express instructions to
tell her nothing about it being carried out we would still think her
dishonourable. In truth, in such a case we would judge her behaviour
more dishonourable because she was sly in her dishonour. If she was
brought in front of a tribunal it might be the case that she is telling
the truth when she says she has no knowledge of a specific act or
transaction within the overall enterprise. We would judge that ignorance
culpable. She is in the dark because she wanted and even ordered the
darkness and we would hold her responsible for her ignorance. The above
is relatively simple and uncontroversial. Other questions would be
generated by the situation I’ve imagined but we’d have no trouble in
finding the claim of “ignorance” to be inexcusable.

There is ignorance that is not culpable

Then
there is ignorance that is the sheer lack of knowledge. A mother feeds
her child poisoned food that she bought in her usual shop and is
inconsolable when the doctors can do nothing and the child dies. An
appropriate person tells a man with critically important documents that
they are to be delivered to a certain place at a certain time. It turns
out to be the wrong place and the wrong time and an important business
contract is lost. Rather than feel ill toward this mother or this
messenger we feel sadness because their ignorance was not the result of
negligence or carelessness. In fact, in these cases they both trusted
appropriate people. They did not know the truth and they did not know that they did not know the truth. If these illustrations don’t suit you it won’t be difficult for you to set up your own true-to-life cases.

There is ignorance that makes us scratch our head

In
between these two extremes there is ignorance that we have qualms
about. There’s a wife that has some reason to think her husband’s
business dealings are crooked but she doesn’t want to know any more in
case she discovers her uneasiness is well grounded. There's the case
where a man is conned by shrewd talkers into investing his money and
losing every penny. When he tells his story we are filled with sympathy
but then someone points out that he was driven by greed to the point
where he ignored the obvious risks and we now wonder. Then
there’s the man who needs immediate First Aid and dies because the
people around him are ignorant as to how to help. These people could
have at some point taken the many free courses on First Aid that they
knew were offered but for one reason or another they just didn’t want
to. Someone slays himself and his friend laments, “It’s all so obvious
now. I just didn’t recognize the signals he was sending out.” Instead of
gluing himself to the television and re-runs he could have read up on
counseling skills. But where would this all end? Must we become walking encyclopedias in every area? Surely not, but is there the other extreme, where because we are lazy and self-serving
we spurn easily available knowledge that would enable us to help those
in need? Again, if these illustrations don’t make my point you make it
for me by setting up situations that are true to life.

If an angel came

Truth
remains true even if I am ignorant of it. Truth remains true even if
for some good reason I am not held responsible for my ignorance of it.
The food was poisoned even though the mother was completely ignorant of
it. The signal light was faulty though there was no way for the
train-driver to know it.

Even if a truth-telling angel came from God to say that under certain circumstances God would tolerate ignorance about the gospel or about the virgin birth or bodily resurrection or atoning death of Christ, how would that alter the gospel? Not an ounce!

And
what would we who have been privileged to know the truth on these
matters be required to believe? And to preach? And to live out? In our
anxiety to allow for the ignorance of some people we’re saying silly
things. Instead of doing that let God handle the ignorance question!
It's not for us to settle all the arguments. Our business is to thank
God for truth revealed and live it out in life and proclamation to all
we come into contact with.

And listen, the cure for their ignorance (or ours) is not a gutless silence, or any other kind of silence!

Ignorance and God’s mercy

There’s
a Jew in Alexandria, in Egypt, who has loved the Lord with a trusting
heart from his childhood. He's a humble and kind man whose service to
God fills him with joy but in the past five years he has been severely
disabled due to an accident. He doesn’t get to Jerusalem now and he
misses it terribly; but he loves the Lord and he is saved by faith.
There’s nothing at all controversial about any of that.

In
Jerusalem it’s around 9 a.m. on Pentecost morning and while our
Alexandrian believer sits prayerful and thinking, hundreds of miles away
Peter is proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ to over three
thousand Jews. Peter is now saying, “Therefore, let all the house of
Israel know with assurance that God has made this same Jesus, the one
you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36) and our North African
Jew is blissfully ignorant. A multitude of his fellow-Jews, convicted of
sin cry out, “Men and brethren what shall we do?” and Peter tells them
to repent and be baptized in the name of that Jesus for the remission of
their sins. And more than three thousand men and women eagerly do it.
Our Jew in Alexandria is oblivious to it all and is quietly praising the
name of the God of his fathers. What is his state before God now?

A
little before nine, Jerusalem time, he was right with God. What
happened to his relationship with God when Peter proclaimed the
forgiveness of sins and the reception of the Holy Spirit through
repentance and baptism in the name of the now glorified Christ? It’s 10
a.m. and is he now lost? Peter preached the gospel and a saved man
automatically became lost? Whatever we say we believe, for fear
of opening doors that should be kept closed, we know in our bones that
our friend can’t be doomed. It’s true he hasn’t yet trusted in Christ
and so been baptized and taken on the name of Jesus Christ. But his
ignorance isn’t chosen and his heart has embraced and loved the truth he
knows of God and he is a saved man. (And although he isn’t aware of it
he is saved by the grace Yahweh has extended to him in Jesus Christ.)

Now,
looked what has happened here. I sketched an imaginary situation and
immediately questions are generated because the situation is complex.
But what difference does it make to the people in Jerusalem under
Peter’s preaching? What difference does the disabled Alexandrian’s
ignorance make to the Jerusalem multitude? No one in the three thousand
plus (Acts 2:41) jumped up and asked, “So what does this mean for my
sick parents who couldn’t make it here today to hear this?” It’s only
modern people that raise such questions. Peter must have known there
were absent God-loving Jews but what had that to do with his
Spirit-inspired message?

To claim that genuinely ignorant and
godly people are exempt from having to believe or be baptized into
Christ because they don’t know they’re called to and therefore
can’t—that’s one thing. To shape our message so as to keep them ignorant
or to shape our message to excuse those who know but won’t humbly
submit to God in the matter is something else. Those people that reject
God’s call are in trouble and those who help them to continue their
refusal are in trouble as well (compare Matthew 5:19 and Luke 7:29-30).

It
doesn’t matter how popular or eloquent the preacher or how thriving the
church that does it, don’t permit anyone to keep you from submitting
your heart and mind to Christ in this matter. Think noble things of God
because he will work out the whole matter of "what if?" You know you can
trust him to do that, don’t you? Well, commit yourself in trust to him
and if you haven’t already done so, have yourself baptized into the
Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as he and his apostolic servants
have called us to do.

"THE EPISTLE TO TITUS"
Sound Doctrine For Young Women (2:4-5)INTRODUCTION
1. Our text continues to describe "things which are proper for sound
doctrine" - Tit 2:1
a. Doctrine that is spiritually healthy, wholesome
b. In this case, exhortations related to godly conduct
2. We have already considered...
a. Conduct becoming older men and older women - Tit 2:2-4
b. Examples to inspire older men and women to bear fruit in their old
age
[We now turn our attention to...]
I. CONDUCT BECOMING YOUNG WOMENA. TO LOVE THEIR HUSBANDS AND CHILDREN...
1. To love their husbands (philandros), to love their children
(philoteknos)
2. To have an affectionate love for both husband and children
3. This should be natural, but sin can lead one to become unloving
- Ro 1:31
4. Note that this is something the older women can train them - Ti 2:4 (ASV, ESV, NIV)
-- Where such love is lacking in younger women, it can be
relearned!B. DISCRETE AND CHASTE...
1. Discreet (sophron)
a. Also required of older men (where it is translated as
'temperate') - Tit 2:2
b. Discreet, sober, temperate, of a sound mind
c. Self-disciplined in one's freedom, self-restrained in all
passions and desires - TCWD
2. Chaste (hagnos)
a. Pure from carnality, chaste, modest - Thayer
b. Pure in heart, and in life - Barnes
c. In body, in affection, words and actions, having their love
pure and single to their own husbands, keeping their
marriage bed undefiled - Gill
d. This conduct would be just as important for single women
- cf. 1Co 7:34-- Young women, married or single, should be discreet and chaste
in their behaviorC. HOMEMAKERS...
1. Homemakers (oikouros)
2. A keeper at home, one who looks after domestic affairs with
prudence and care - TCWD
3. Attentive to their domestic concerns, or to their duties in
their families - Barnes
4. A virtuous woman might be engaged in economic affairs outside
the home, but not to the neglect of her family - cf. Pr 31:
10-31 (note esp. 16,24,31)
-- Her duty is first to home and family, though may work outside
the home if capableD. GOOD...
1. Good (agathos)
2. Other translations have "kind" (ASV, ESV, NASB, NIV, NRSV)
3. In respect to operation or influence on others, i.e., useful,
beneficial, profitable - TCWD-- As a young woman carries out her duties, she is to do so with
goodness and kindnessE. OBEDIENT TO THEIR HUSBANDS...
1. Obedient (hupotasso)
2. To subject oneself, place oneself in submission - TCWD
3. Wives are to be in submission to their husbands - Ep 5:22; Co 3:18; 1Pe 3:1,5
4. Although there is an ontological spiritual equality between men
and women (Ga 3:28; 1Pe 3:7), there remain physical,
positional and functional differences. There are designated
functions for a husband and a wife which man cannot change
because God has ordained them. Any endeavor to effect change
will bring frustration, vanity, and emptiness. - TCWD-- Submission is a virtue enjoined on all Christians (Ep 5:21;
1Pe 5:5); wives can demonstrate how it should be done
[Such is the conduct that is becoming of young women. Many today scoff
at such notions. But for those willing to obey, they can be used by God
to accomplish great things. Consider some...]
II. EXAMPLES TO INSPIRE YOUNG WOMENA. HANNAH...
1. Whose name means "gracious, merciful; that he gives"
- Hitchcock
2. Her trials and prayers were rewarded by God giving her a son,
Samuel - 1Sa 1:1-20
3. Who was willing to dedicate her son to the Lord - 1Sa 1:
21-28; 2:18,19
4. Who offered a prayer of thanksgiving, that is similar to the
song of Mary - 1 Sa 2:1-10
5. And was later blessed with three more sons, and two daughters
- 1 Sa 2:20-21-- A woman of faith who dedicated family in service to the LordB. ESTHER...
1. A beautiful orphan girl, raised by her cousin Mordecai - Est 2:7
2. Who became wife of Ahasuerus, king of Persia - Es 2:8-17
3. Who risked her life to save the Jews from extinction - Est 4:13-16-- A beautiful and gracious woman, used in God's providence to
save a nationC. MARY...
1. The young virgin who became the mother of our Lord - Lk 1:
26-38; Mt 1:18-25
2. Who came to understand who her son's true family was - cf. Lk2:48-51; Mt 12:46-50
2. Who followed her son to His crucifixion - Jn 19:25
3. Who was later together with His apostles - Ac 1:13-14-- A chaste and discreet woman, who reminds us that all our
children belong to GodD. PRISCILLA...
1. The wife of Aquila - Ac 18:1-3
2. Who joined her husband in teaching Apollos - Ac 18:26
3. Fellow workers with Paul, and who risked their own lives - Ro 16:3-4
4. In whose home churches met - Ro 16:5; 1Co 16:19-- A wife who used her home to further the cause of the gospel of
ChristE. MODERN DAY EXAMPLES...
1. Women who love their husbands and their children, providing
homes for them
2. Those who do not let their families become a hindrance, but as
a way to serve the Lord
3. Chaste and discreet girls, even teenagers, who take a stand for
decency and morality
4. Women who demonstrate the beauty and value of submission and
service
-- Who will God use today? Any young woman who dares to follow
the Lord!CONCLUSION
1. Some might think that Paul's words in our text...
a. Are chauvinist and outdated
b. Would prevent women from attaining their full potential
2. Yet time and experience has shown it to be sound doctrine...
a. Doctrine that is spiritually healthy, wholesome for young women
b. That which is most beneficial in developing truly healthy families
Are the young women willing to heed such sound doctrine, "that the
word of God may not be blasphemed"...?

Gen
44:1 He commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the
men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's
money in his sack's mouth.

Gen
44:2 Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the
youngest, with his grain money." He did according to the word
that Joseph had spoken.

Gen
44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they
and their donkeys.

Gen
44:4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off,
Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men. When you
overtake them, ask them, 'Why have you rewarded evil for good?

Gen
44:5 Isn't this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he
indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.' "

Gen
44:6 He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.

Gen
44:7 They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as
these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!

Gen
44:8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we
brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we
steal silver or gold out of your lord's house?

Gen
44:9 With whoever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we
also will be my lord's bondservants."

Gen
44:10 He said, "Now also let it be according to your words: he
with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be
blameless."

Gen
44:11 Then they hurried, and every man took his sack down to the
ground, and every man opened his sack.

Gen
44:12 He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the
youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

Gen
44:13 Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey,
and returned to the city.

Gen
44:14 Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was
still there. They fell on the ground before him.

Gen
44:15 Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have
done? Don't you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?"

Gen
44:16 Judah said, "What will we tell my lord? What will we
speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity
of your servants. Behold, we are my lord's bondservants, both we, and
he also in whose hand the cup is found."

Gen
44:17 He said, "Far be it from me that I should do so. The man
in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for
you, go up in peace to your father."

Gen
44:18 Then Judah came near to him, and said, "Oh, my lord,
please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and don't let
your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.

Gen
44:19 My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father, or a
brother?'

Gen
44:20 We said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child
of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone
is left of his mother; and his father loves him.'

Gen
44:21 You said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, that I may
set my eyes on him.'

Gen
44:22 We said to my lord, 'The boy can't leave his father: for if he
should leave his father, his father would die.'

Gen
44:23 You said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes
down with you, you will see my face no more.'

Gen
44:24 It happened when we came up to your servant my father, we told
him the words of my lord.

Gen
44:25 Our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food.'

Gen
44:26 We said, 'We can't go down. If our youngest brother is with
us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man's face, unless
our youngest brother is with us.'

Gen
44:28 and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is
torn in pieces;" and I haven't seen him since.

Gen
44:29 If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him,
you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.'

Gen
44:30 Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the
boy is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the boy's
life;

Gen
44:31 it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he
will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your
servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol.

Gen
44:32 For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father,
saying, 'If I don't bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to
my father forever.'

Gen
44:33 Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the
boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his
brothers.

Gen
44:34 For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with
me?--lest I see the evil that will come on my father."

Feb.
14

Genesis
45

Gen
45:1 Then Joseph couldn't control himself before all those who stood
before him, and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me!"
No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his
brothers.

Gen
45:2 He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh
heard.

Gen
45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Does my father
still live?" His brothers couldn't answer him; for they were
terrified at his presence.

Gen
45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please."
They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you
sold into Egypt.

Gen
45:5 Now don't be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold
me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

Gen
45:6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there
are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor
harvest.

Gen
45:7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the
earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.

Gen
45:8 So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made
me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the
land of Egypt.

Gen
45:9 Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, 'This is what your
son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down
to me. Don't wait.

Gen
45:10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to
me, you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your
herds, and all that you have.

Gen
45:11 There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of
famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all
that you have." '

Gen
45:12 Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin,
that it is my mouth that speaks to you.

Gen
45:13 You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all
that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here."

Gen
45:14 He fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin
wept on his neck.

Gen
45:15 He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his
brothers talked with him.

Gen
45:16 The report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying,
"Joseph's brothers have come." It pleased Pharaoh well, and
his servants.

Gen
45:17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this.
Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan.

Gen
45:18 Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I
will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat
of the land.'

Gen
45:19 Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of
Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your
father, and come.

Gen
45:20 Also, don't concern yourselves about your belongings, for the
good of all of the land of Egypt is yours."

Gen
45:21 The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according
to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

Gen
45:22 He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin
he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.

Gen
45:23 To his father, he sent after this manner: ten donkeys loaded
with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with
grain and bread and provision for his father by the way.

Gen
45:24 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to
them, "See that you don't quarrel on the way."

Gen
45:25 They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan,
to Jacob their father.

Gen
45:26 They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is
ruler over all the land of Egypt." His heart fainted, for he
didn't believe them.

Gen
45:27 They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to
them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the
spirit of Jacob, their father, revived.

Gen
45:28 Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive.
I will go and see him before I die."

Feb. 14, 15

Matthew 23

Mat 23:1 Then Jesus
spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,

Mat 23:2 saying, "The
scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses' seat.

Mat 23:3 All things
therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but
don't do their works; for they say, and don't do.

Mat 23:4 For they bind
heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's
shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.

Mat 23:5 But all their
works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad,
enlarge the fringes of their garments,

Mat 23:6 and love the
place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,

Mat 23:7 the
salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called 'Rabbi, Rabbi' by
men.

Mat 23:8 But don't you
be called 'Rabbi,' for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of
you are brothers.

Mat 23:9 Call no man on
the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.

Mat 23:10 Neither be
called masters, for one is your master, the Christ.

Mat 23:11 But he who is
greatest among you will be your servant.

Mat 23:12 Whoever
exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be
exalted.

Mat 23:13 "Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows'
houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will
receive greater condemnation.

Mat 23:14 "But woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the
Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don't enter in yourselves,
neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter.

Mat 23:15 Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and
land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him
twice as much of a son of Gehenna as yourselves.

Mat 23:16 "Woe to
you, you blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is
nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is
obligated.'

Mat 23:17 You blind
fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies
the gold?

Mat 23:18 'Whoever
swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift
that is on it, he is obligated?'

Mat 23:19 You blind
fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies
the gift?

Mat 23:20 He therefore
who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.

Mat 23:21 He who swears
by the temple, swears by it, and by him who was living in it.

Mat 23:22 He who swears
by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.

Mat 23:23 "Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and
cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law:
justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not
to have left the other undone.

Mat 23:24 You blind
guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

Mat 23:25 "Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of
the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and
unrighteousness.

Mat 23:26 You blind
Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that
its outside may become clean also.

Mat 23:27 "Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened
tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of
dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Mat 23:28 Even so you
also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of
hypocrisy and iniquity.

Mat 23:29 "Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of
the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,

Mat 23:30 and say, 'If
we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have been
partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'

Mat 23:31 Therefore you
testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the
prophets.

Mat 23:32 Fill up,
then, the measure of your fathers.

Mat 23:33 You serpents,
you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?

Mat 23:34 Therefore,
behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them
you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your
synagogues, and persecute from city to city;

Mat 23:35 that on you
may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of
righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you
killed between the sanctuary and the altar.

Mat 23:36 Most
certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this
generation.

Mat 23:37 "Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to
her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as
a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!

Mat 23:38 Behold, your
house is left to you desolate.

Mat 23:39 For I tell
you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, 'Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord!' "

The world can be a nasty place. When life becomes difficult, it is not unusual to have one of the above problems. Fortunately, God has the remedy and all you have to do is read. So, read the following...

10 Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you.Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you.Yes, I will help you.Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

1 Corinthians, Chapter 10

13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Romans, Chapter 10

17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly,“Their sound went out into all the earth,their words to the ends of the world.”

Isaiah, Chapter 53

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions.He was crushed for our iniquities.The punishment that brought our peace was on him;and by his wounds we are healed.

Psalm 34

18 Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart,and saves those who have a crushed spirit.

Deuteronomy, Chapter 31

8 Yahweh himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.”

Very practical stuff!!! But just a sign isn't enough, you have to read it. And when you do, read it out loud!!! If you never have read these passages before, they might come as a surprise for you. I can imagine the cartoon character "Robin" exclaiming: 'Holy Hotlines',Batman"!!! However, life is more than a mere cartoon; it is reality!!! The thing is- all of the above are true and worth reading again and again!!!

PS. You might want to print this out and post it somewhere- you never know when it might come in handy!!!